Cloud City Intrigue in ‘Star Wars: Edge of the Empire: The Jewel of Yavin’

By Matt Staggs on April 13, 2014

The Jewel of Yavin is the second adventure for Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars tabletop role-playing game, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, and in many ways a total about-face from the first adventure Beyond the Rim. Where Beyond the Rim was an action-heavy wilderness survival adventure set on a jungle planet far from the lights of civilization (but not far enough from the Empire), The Jewel of Yavin is a tale of intrigue set in the lap of luxury: Fabulous Cloud City, anchored above the gas giant Bespin. The Jewel of Yavin is to Beyond the Rim as Ocean’s 11 is to First Blood: Part 2.

Gambling is a big source of income for Cloud City, and while there are plenty of opportunities for players to try their luck at the city’s casinos, the big game going is the Cloud City Grand Prix: a high stakes race through the clouds backed by some of the galaxy’s most powerful beings. At the time of the players’ arrival, the race is just about to get underway. That’s not why they’re at Cloud City, though – or at least, not the main reason they’ve come.

There’s a gem stone of incalculable somewhere in Cloud City, and the players have been hired to steal it. Unfortunately for them, they aren’t the only beings in town looking for the Jewel of Bespin, and the stakes are probably going to get higher than anything that’s on the line at the sabacc tables. In a city of thieves, card sharks, con men, and scoundrels, players are going to have to stay on their toes in order to accomplish their mission – or even leave Cloud City alive. The scenario at the heart of The Jewel of Yavin offers plenty of opportunities for thieves, scoundrels, slicers and other low-lives to show off their skills, but other character types won’t have any problem finding things to do.

As every Star Wars fan knows, Cloud City was the place that Lando Calrissian lost the legendary Millennium Falcon in a game of Sabacc, and since just about anyone reading this is probably already curious, I’ll go ahead and confirm that Baron Administrator Lando (as well as Lobot!) is indeed included in the adventure, and there are probably more than a few opportunities for players to meet him if they want – and maybe even if they don’t want. There’s lots of ways for someone that’s a little too curious for their own good to get into trouble, and Lando, above anything else, wants to preserve Cloud City’s freedom. Anyone who threatens that will probably find themselves quickly ejected from the city. If they’re lucky, their exit won’t come via airlock.

The war between the Rebellion and the Empire has raged across the galaxy, but Cloud City has been able to remain neutral – no doubt due in part to the Baron Administrator’s deft negotiating skills. The City doesn’t support either of the warring factions, or at least doesn’t support one more than the other. This, along with the city authorities’ deep and abiding disinterest in the background or legal status of its visitors, makes it a perfect place for espionage and intrigue. There’s no telling who anyone really is or why they’re there, so the players may be rubbing elbows with Imperial and Rebellion intelligence agents alike. There’s no end of subplots and adventure fodder that could develop here.

Like Beyond the Rim, The Jewel of Yavin is also a small campaign setting. The notable people, important places, and unique traditions of Cloud City are broadly detailed in entries about all of the city’s sub-levels. The city is all opulence and luxury on the surface, but there’s a grimy underside that keeps things going, and it’s not very pretty, and I’m not just talking about the Ugnauts. (They receive a great deal of care and detail in the book, by the way.) There are plenty of stories about tourists who wander off the beaten path and disappear in the bowels of the city, never to be seen again.

If you’ve ever wondered about Cloud City and fantasized about what it might be like to slip about through its mysterious corridors or fly around in a cloud car, then this is the book for you. Players will love the adventure, and gamemasters could use the city as an excellent, pre-made home base for launching continuing adventures,both inside the city and out into the galaxy.

Publisher’s Description:

Scrape together a crew and prepare for the heist of a lifetime in The Jewel of Yavin, a ninety page adventure supplement for Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™.

Set in Bespin’s Cloud City, The Jewel of Yavin includes plenty of opportunities for all characters to shine as they work to steal the priceless corusca gem.

Game Masters will find the Cloud City gazetteer section especially useful, both for running The Jewel of Yavin adventure and for basing their own Edge of the Empire campaigns on the floating city. The section features over a dozen pages of material detailing locations in the plaza district, Port Town, and the industrial levels.